Ahsun birth perception scale: a new measure to assess perceptions about childbirth

Each woman is unique, and everyone's perception of childbirth is different. A standardised education and consultancy service cannot be expected to meet the needs of every woman at the same level. To provide an effective obstetrics service, determining each woman's birth perception level and providing a personalised education and consultancy service specific to the individual according to her needs will lead to more beneficial results. This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale to determine women's perceptions of childbirth.

This methodological and cross-sectional study was conducted between January and September 2023. The study sample consisted of 635 pregnant women in the western region of Turkey. The data analysis was conducted using SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 21.0 software. Content validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, split-half, test-retest and Hotelling T2 test were used for data analysis and evaluation.

The mean age of the participants was 27.23 ± 4.53 years, and the mean gestational age was 30.65 ± 4.50 weeks. Content validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, split-half, test-retest and Hotelling T2 test were used for data analysis and evaluation. According to the factor analysis the scale consists of 17 items and two subdimensions, which explained 71.56% of the total variance. The scale's factor load values ranged from 0.533 to 0.890, and its Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.976, whereas the subdimensions were 0.944 and 0.974.

Therefore, this scale can be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool for nurses, midwives, and other healthcare professionals to assess women's perception of childbirth.